Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Water Conjurer ...

There was once a conjurer ... a conjurer with a speciality. The speciality was something which was quite intriguing ... making something out of nothing. And, it wasnt even just an ordinary something. It was water!

Yes ... the Conjurer could make water out of nothing. How? Simple ... He would just wave his hand, and lo and behold ... there would be water. There was water in the seas, on the land, and in the sky, and all of this was there, because of the Conjurer. He was a man of Magic ... and, he created magic, too. Whenever it rained two drops, he could make a lake which had four drops of water in it ... two from the rain, and two conjured by the magical Conjurer. Though, he wasnt quite alone in this. He had a friend ... a friend who was unknown. Yes, unknown! Unknown to the world, except by his work ... for his work was path-breaking ... Literally!

One day, the Conjurer left his home. He quite liked it there, but he wanted to see new places. For one of the things he couldnt do with magic was see far-off places. This was because clouds always surrounded him. Being the Water Conjurer, he always carried with him the aura of water, and how better to express this aura than through clouds? So it would almost be fair to say that the Conjurer couldnt see beyond his clouds. Which quite made it impossible to see things which were far away. And no, even spectacles didnt help.

So, one day, he left his home, and went out into the world. He went far and wide, saw almost the entire world. He went around like this for years. For years, he was travelling, seeing some of the most beautiful places in the world, and some of the most unusual too. He went to a place where there was a tower which just wouldnt stand straight. And he went to a place where there was fire flying in the sky. he went to the place with the statue of the lady, and he went to the place with the wonderful fair. He saw merchants, kings and queens, he saw travellers, farmers, shepherds, people of all kinds. And he liked them all. Some of them were good people, who never spared a thought before helping others, and others were not so good, who never spared a thought for others. But, they were all part of Creation, and so they were beautiful.

Then one day, he came to a city ... this was a city with a tower. Only, like the other city with the tower he went to, this tower stood straight. It stood straight, pointing its finger at the sky, a beautiful reminder of people gone by. The city had a beautiful river, and a lovely fort. The city was the land of poets ... There was literature, there was art, and there was music ... and, there was the warmth of the city which welcomed him with open arms. And thats when he decided ... He must live in this city. He would never leave the city.

Now, from time to time, rains would skip the city by. These were times which were tough for the people. But, not any longer. The Conjurer was with them. So, he brought water. And more water. And then some more, till the people were wondering what they were to do with so much water. And they slowly became worried. If the Conjurer stayed there for long, they wouldnt have any place to stay. For there would be water everywhere. So, they all asked the king to ask the Conjurer to go away from there. The king wanted the Conjurer to stay, but then, the power of the people was paramount, so he had no choice ... he had to ask the Conjurer to go away. The Conjurer, upon hearing this, felt sad.

He had been asked like this to go away plenty of times before. But, it was never like this. He had never seen a city as beautiful as this. He had never come across people as nice, warm and welcoming as here. And, he had never felt the beauty of human civilization as he had here. He had never heard such wonderful poetry, such lilting music, and such beautiful art, not to mention the wonderful architecture. All in all, this was the most wonderful city he had ever seen. And he was sad ... Sad, for he didnt want to leave. But, the people were scared.

On hearing whats going on with the Conjurer, the Path-breaker ran to join him. He brought with him his unique skills, which were path-breaking ... literally. Upon seeing him, the Conjurer started to cry. He let out a loud wail, and started to cry with all the sadness he had ... And, he poured it forth in the form of tears. Seeing his wonderful friend cry, Path-breaker got furious, and let his anger be known to the people of Delhi. And, we can still see both ... whenever it rains two drops in Delhi, water logging is four drops ... two drops coming from the Conjurer. And, the Path-breaker, in his fury, to this day, goes about breaking up the roads, creating astral craters on the roads, whenever the Conjurer conjures up water.

2 comments:

Footloose!! said...

hmm interesting read and well thought of. Good stuff jeeju!

Atul said...

thanks! :-) i didnt know i had a footloose saalaa (saalee?)